Chapter 1: The Dream

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21XX:  New Tokyo, Maverick Hunter Headquarters (MHHQ), 19:48 hours GMT.

Usually it’s just isolation.  Just pure darkness that cannot be seen, heard, or touched.  Very rarely is it anything else.  Just a recharge period where only the necessary functions needed to survive continued operating.  Just an unconscious state of mind with no pesky subconscious mind to interfere with that sense depriving emptiness.  Even in the most advanced, the ones with all the ‘newest’ technological components and advanced systems it was just darkness.  It wasn’t unheard of, no, of course not.  It had even been documented a couple times.  But it was always seldom, never frequent.  Oh sure daydreaming was possible: we all had imaginations that would allow that.  But that was daydreaming, a simple unleashing of the imagination for a while.  It didn’t happen very often during ‘sleep’ as humans would call it.  For most of us it’s just into the recharging pod and out several hours later with very little in between.
For most of us that is…

“Heh heh heh…  Get up.”
“Who are you?”
“My masterpiece.”
“Wha?  Who are you?”
“After him he is my nemesis, our rivalry is what gives me motivation in life.  Now go, destroy him, that’s an order!”
“Buh?  Wait…uwahh…ahhh…ahhhh…aaahhh…AAAGGHHH!”

Pain, all I know is pain.  A horrible buzzing sound echoes in my head.  I see images.  Pictures.  An old man with an insane expression on his face, various computer consoles, an old enemy of mine screaming in fear at an unknown foe, a pod of some sort, blueprints… of me, dead bodies of mechanical creatures too mangled to possibly be alive or functioning, my legs in the inside of a capsule, fuel tanks of some sort, more destroyed robotic corpses obviously victims of a massacre, bloodstained hands…my hands, even more blueprints of me displayed on a computer screen, more dead robots, arms, legs, torsos, heads with lifeless eyes that seem to stare at me, death, everywhere, pain, death, suffering, massacre, blood, corpses…
Something’s not right…

‘Well of course something’s not right,’ you may say.  ‘Dude I think you should get some help,’ or something to that effect.  But that’s not what I mean.
I’m usually awake by now.  This is further than I’ve ever been.
“Zero.”

I turn around to see who addressed me.  “AAHHH!”  It’s the old man.  Except now his head has been crushed, beyond recognition.  His brains and other vital fluids were spilling out of his eyes and ears.  Yet, still, he speaks to me.

“This is your doing.  You have done this.”
“Nh…no.  It can’t be.  I would never do this.”
He starts to come towards me.  “What’s the matter?  Afraid of your achievement?”
“No this isn’t possible!  Stay away from me!”
“Are you afraid of those who are dead, those you have killed?”  As he spoke, the mangled corpses of the robots came together and started towards him looking like robotic zombies.
“Who are you?  What are they?  Why am I here?”
“I think the real questions are, who are you?  What should you be?  Why do you stay here?”
“What?  What do you mean?”
“Why do you resist your true nature?  Why do you resist your destiny?”  The old man exclaimed as the zombie robots surrounded me.
“No, stay away!  Get away from me!”
“There’s only one way, kill them.  You must kill all of them.”
“No, they’re already dead!  This can't be happening!”
“It’s the only way to be free.”
“It can’t be!  There must be some other way!”
“Kill them.”
“No!”
“You have to kill them!”
“NO!”
“YOU MUST KILL THEM ALL!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGG!!!”  I couldn’t take it any longer.  My vision clouded and all I could see was red.  My hands shot out into the crowd of robots and began to rip them all to shreds.   I slaughtered them all again.  I mangled their already dead bodies.  I tore off heads and appendages.  Oil and hydraulic fluids flew everywhere, coating me.
And when it was all over, and my battle fever had finally died down, I looked over the where the old man was standing.  He was laughing maniacly
“MWAHAHAHAH!  Excellent Zero!  You are the ultimate killer!  Just as I created you to be.  However, you still have not fulfilled your mission.  You have to kill more, many more…and especially him.”  The old man pointed at something.
I gazed at where he was pointing, but an intense white light blinded me.
“Zero?”
Oh no.
“Zero?  What’s wrong?”
I know that voice.
“Zero?  What’s happening?”
No.
The old man sneered at me.  “What’s the matter Zero?  Can’t do it?  I can take care of that.”
I was confused.  “Wha…ahh…nnnoo…not again…AAAUUUGH!”  Once again that searing pain in my head made itself known.
“ZERO!?  What’s wrong?!  Wake up, Zero!  Please, WAKE UP!  ZERO!”


End Chapter 1